Sometimes in the world of music, it can be hard to tell if what you’re watching is satirical or serious. Although many don’t find “cringeworthy” to be a desirable trait, it’s a category that has certainly yielded some impressive musical offerings over the year. With some of these videos being the most watched in internet history, it makes you wonder, maybe these artists aren’t cringe but creative geniuses at work.
See below for some of the outright ridiculous. plain painful to watch, and cringiest music videos ever created.
Rebecca Black – ‘Friday’
What would any music cringe list be without Rebecca Black‘s iconic track, ‘Friday‘? The video which follows Rachel and her chums around the town as they pretend to drive a car and go clubbing. In a lyrical highlight, the singer lists off the days of the week and teaches us exactly how they work “Tomorrow is Saturday and Sunday comes after… wards I don’t want this weekend to end.“
Psy – ‘Gangnam Style‘
‘Gangnam Style‘ is completely ridiculous. That’s probably why it’s one of the most-watched music videos on YouTube of all time with over 20 billion views. From its absurd lyrics to its hilariously-awful choreography, Psy’s debut song and visuals are incredibly cringy and that’s why everyone loves them.
Shayne Ward – ‘No You Hang Up‘
Packed with edgy black and white photography, ‘smouldering‘ seductive eye contact with the camera and plenty of singing down the phone. ‘No You Hang Up‘ is a very difficult video to try and take seriously. See how far you can get through it.
Pikotaro – ‘PPAP (Pen Pineapple Apple Pen)‘
Just like ‘Gangnam Style‘, Pikotaro‘s ‘PPAP‘ is so ridiculous it’s managed to reach a highly-ranked viral status. In its efforts to force itself to be so aimlessly random and funny it’s become one of the most laughed and cringed at videos on the list.
Jacob Sartorius – ‘Sweatshirt’
There are not many cringier things than children acting like adults and talking about their deep and meaningful life experiences with love and relationships. I suppose we all could learn a lot from millionaire child-star Jacob Sartorius and his finely tuned outlook on life. With a lot of singing to the camera and a magic sweater creeping its way around a school to keep a girl warm, Jacob delivers another Satorious classic.
